As the shopping environment is becoming more complicated, companies will have to negotiate compounding and growing multi-channel and multi-company “value poaching” challenges , illustrated by the following articles: In a 2003 Harvard...

Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:

Friction will need to come OUT of the retail experience for it to stay competitive. Showrooming is more about dissatisfaction with the retail experience as a desire to save. Showrooming is an active protest.

No one showrooms the Apple store because the shopping experience is fun and traditional friction has been removed. Types of retail friction the Apple store destroyed:

* LINES - no lines creates a perception of amazing service.* Brick and Mortar as classroom.

* Hang Out - all that free WiFi and cool stuff going on.

* Service Concern - Genius Bar resolved this.

* Bad Service - lots of PEOPLE to help who enjoy their jobs.

* No Deals - Apple doesn't let Amazon destroy their brand.

This last bullet is harder than it looks. Since Amazon plays the price arbitrage game better, on one single day a recent speaker at the Raleigh Internet Summit noted Amazon changed a price on a hot product 9 times, creating a "price match" that eliminates the advantage is key.

The problem is Amazon uses its retail arm as lost leader to support profits from its partner network. This means it is willing to sell things, especially very HOT things, at or below cost.

As painful as it sounds to play a match game with an algorithm brick and mortar retailers must either get shelf talker/tags that are live to the net (coming don't kid yourself) OR create an "Amazon Price Match" promotion.

Money is changing fast and so too must online merchants. It's possible to see a "closed box" in the not too distant future where transactions happen thanks to a series of chatbots, blockchain, and Bitcoin. If nothing in that previous sentence makes any sense start by reading this article about Bitcoin and money.

Oracle on Social Listening AnalyticsHave you heard the wise saying, “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason: what we hear is always at least twice as important as what we say”? Listening, truly understanding what others are saying, has become such a rarity in today’s world. Consumers are constantly bombarded with hyperactive, in your face media; desperate to grab their ever-shrinking, yet coveted attention span.

As a brand, rather than force the majority to hit the metaphoric mute button, wouldn’t you rather figure out how to play the perfect tune for your various audiences? If this is your company’s pursuit, then I suggest you (literally) listen up.

Start with WhyOur recent Curagami post - Think Different the Gravity of Digital is an important read for e-commerce merchants. Most "new to the web" merchants we work with want to jump right into the HOW of constructing a website.

That's a mistake. HOW can only be effectively communicated once a brand's WHY is understood and shared. Knowing WHY you're doing things creates actions based on core values. WHY creates great and flexible brands like Apple, Nike, and Facebook.

Holiday Shipping TablesSuccessful e-commerce is about 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. We use the old cliche for a reason. To win in a crowded world you need to have some cool ideas, but you also need to pay attention to the basics.

Things like creating an easy to understand Holiday Shipping Calendar is e-commerce gold. Whenever you share a feedback lop you collaborate with visitors who may become customers since you clearly CARE.

Amazon will beat you on price, but you can beat them on CARING and, unless you sell highly commoditized things, caring matters. This Curagami post shares a tips likely to anger some of our readers and clients, but just because Amazon is a vampire doesn't mean they don't have something for Small to Medium Sized Merchants. See if you don't agree with our contingency and multi-channel ideas.

Google Rankbrain SEO's New MathGoogle Rankbrain Artificial Intelligence (AI) SEO killer will surely scorch the earth. Dogs and cats living together was the only, “Machines Take Over” reference Larry Kim left out of RankBrain Judgement Day: Four Tactics You’ll Need To Survive for SearchEngine Watch.

Video games can teach e-commerce merchants many lessons. Video game developers can teach even more valuable lessons. This Curagami post shares five tips online merchants should steal today including:

Create Great Products

Develop Community and then Listen, Learn, and Change

Give customers chances to collaborate

Forge badges, banners, and other rewards

Define how rewards are earned but don’t forget serendipity and surprise

With such great marketing is there any wonder why Blizzard Entertainment has more than thirty million Overwatch players? Doomfist is a new brilliantly named Overwatch character and gamers are talking about little else this summer. Doomfist is more important than Game of Thrones to gamers.

This Curagami post shares five problems we experienced at The Iron Yard coding school in Durham, North Carolina. The post places code schools in the context of problems we would have had hiring a graduate when we ran an e-commerce web design shop. Problems such as:

They teach “academic” not business coding

No Student Vetting or Skills-Based Placement

Value/Benefits Proposition is Off

Can't Keep Great Teachers

More Than Ten Year Discrepancy Is Almost Impossible to Overcome

In our class of more than twenty students, we doubt more than five are working in a web design shop today. So more than $100,000 was spent, tuition then was $10K for twelve weeks of class, with little return, chance to change the student's career or provide value $1.50 in late fees from the library or other online classes couldn't provide.

Our Curagami post summarizing problems we experienced during our tenure at The Iron Yard in Durham, North Carolina. Hopefully, you read our code school problems piece before paying for the broken promises most will receive.

We like the straightforward simplicity of this list of e-commerce SEO tips. Writing better product descriptions seems obvious, but you'd be surprised how many online merchants walk by the obvious.

Nothing in SEO is complicated as these 9 tips show despite their "advanced" claim. Tips such as the create "versus" posts will occur to anyone who sees what controversy does to visits (it increases them). Visiting isn't conversion and many new to-e-commerce make that simple mistake.

Our advice is not to do that.

Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:

Good list of SEO tips for e-commerce though not as "advanced" as they make out.

E-Com's Future is MAYA In 5 Inescapable TrendsMAYA is influential designer Raymond Loewy's Most Advanced Yet Acceptable idea. If there is a better description for the future of online commerce and web design we don't know it (and would like to learn it so please share).

Global e-commerce revenues continue to grow, and brick-and-mortar retailers are feeling the heat. There’s plenty of evidence pointing to their survival, so why the anxiety?

Despite all the buzz surrounding electronic and mobile commerce, 85 percent of consumers say they prefer to shop in physical stores, a 2016 study by TimeTrade (registration required) found. Even when the same product can be ordered online or purchased at a nearby store, according to TimeTrade’s data, 71 percent of us will still schlep out to the brick-and-mortar retailer to get it.

Symphony of FeedsOne trend that feels clear but confusing is the future of content and e-commerce. Clear that merchants will need more content. Unclear and confusing because no merchant can afford to create enough quality content despite what Mark Schaefer says in Content Shock.

We agree and disagree with Schaefer's math too. Content Shock is about using content as advertising and we agree those days are gone. We disagree because content is still KING for merchants.

Without content traffic doesn't convert. And no conversions means you are a nonprofit and didn't know it. Feeds and content curation are the answer.

We wrote that last sentence like we know what the future holds. No such luck, but we know merchants can't create all the content they need. We also know content curation creates more awareness and engagement faster than anything else we know about, so ipso facto content is important and we must curate it faster, better and with ever lowering not escalating costs.

And that all sounds likes feeds and Anthony Musselwhite's tool to us. What do you think?

Five Penguin SEO Problem Recovery Steps is a summary of creative steps you to take when your website's traffic gets hammered by seo problems.

Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:

Creative Steps to SEO RecoveryWe didn't want to share the same 5 steps everyone shares. Getting titles, anchor text and body copy aligned is important to recover from a SEO shock, but we wanted to share 5 steps you may not be thinking about such as:

Creative Steps to SEO RecoveryWe didn't want to share the same 5 steps everyone shares. Getting titles, anchor text and body copy aligned is important to recover from a SEO shock, but we wanted to share 5 steps you may not be thinking about such as:

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.